Posts tagged ‘IPX’

This guest blog was written by Jay Jayasimha, Chief Technology Innovation Officer, Cataleya

LTE needs IPX to be a truly global success. When domestic LTE deployments are supported by global IPX-enabled networks, it changes what is possible in the mobile market. Today, we’ve seen the development of LTE networks on a local level but for 4G services to mature and realise their full potential LTE needs to be supported with robust, reliable and intelligent IPX-enabled networks.

There will be 450 commercial LTE networks deployed by the end of 2015, according to The Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA). Close to 50% of subscribers in Q4 2014 were in Asia-Pacific with North America and Europe trailing close behind.

This post is by Malcolm Chan, Managing Director, BICS, Asia-Pacific.

Asia is expected to account for almost half (forty-seven per cent) of all LTE connections by 2017, as LTE networks are rolled out in major markets such as China and India, making Asia-Pacific the world’s largest LTE market in terms of service revenue. In the face of this tremendous growth, operators need to seek innovation through Next Generation Communication Services to maintain market share and customer loyalty.

To achieve this, operators need to ensure they provide an enhanced user experience. Central to this is an enriched communication experience with IMS based services like VoLTE and Rich Communications Services (RCS).

As OTT players increase the number of VoIP and messaging services they offer their customers globally, mobile operators need to deploy VoLTE and RCS services in order to offer innovative high quality services through their unique proposition of ubiquity, global reach, quality and privacy management.

Roman Waditschatka, International Product Manager for Mobile Solutions, A1 Telekom Austria is speaking on the topic of “Creating a consistent customer experience when roaming,” taking place on Day Two of the 9th annual LTE Asia conference, taking place on the 23rd-25th September 2014 at the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Here he gives us his views on why IPX is so important for the modern network operator.

LTE roaming is starting to become a reality – what are the main challenges to making it happen?

The main challenge is having a reliable IPX provider with a flexible core network infrastructure to interconnect MNOs that can tailor itself to their needs. Telekom Austria Group’s global IPX network guarantees our customers global LTE roaming coverage by exchanging traffic with their roaming partner networks worldwide.

To what extent does having a wholesale business with knowledge of signalling issues help solve roaming challenges?

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Dominie Roberts is the Conference Researcher for the LTE World Summit, at Informa Telecoms & Media

This is by Dominie Roberts, Conference Researcher for the LTE World Summit, at Informa Telecoms & Media

While IPX is a technology that has been on many operator’s agendas since 2012, it was 2013 that really shaped up to be a dynamic year for those in the IPX realm. Last year saw increased interest in this technology, with many global service providers, including Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, TeliaSonera, and Vodafone reporting pilots for voice-over-IPX.

Now 2014 is looking as if it will be even more significant and with LTE is being heralded as the key driver for IPX, discussions surrounding this technology are increasingly filling up our news feeds and dominating roaming and voice debates during LTE events. With the threat of OTTs looming and the need for operators to gain ROI from their LTE investments, MNOs are now looking at new ways to stay ahead of the game in an increasingly competitive market.

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Once again the mobile industry is entering a new phase of technological change. With the proliferation of data services and smartphones, the mobile operator community is working to address the increasing need for bandwidth with the rollout of next generation 4G networks.

As operators launch LTE services in their home markets, consumers will naturally expect the same quality experience everywhere— especially when they are abroad. In view of this, mobile operators that deploy LTE networks in their domestic markets are starting to review available options to ensure LTE services allow seamless roaming overseas.

The first users of LTE will typically be VIP customers or key corporate accounts, a segment made up of high-end users and frequent travellers. To serve these premium customers operators will need to address LTE roaming requirements sooner, rather than later.

Prepare for roaming

LTE enables new services such as video streaming, HD voice and Voice over LTE applications. However, these services also put high demands on the data roaming backbone and require much more bandwidth and resilient network connectivity. As mobile operators review their LTE Roaming connectivity options, they will need to consider the following business and technical factors in preparation to enable LTE Roaming:

Kevin M. Kleinsmith, Director of Engineering, Union Wireless (USA) is speaking on the subjects of VoLTE and backhaul at the LTE North America conference, taking place on the 21st-22nd November 2013, in Dallas, Texas, USA. Ahead of the show we speak to him about the details of what is required to implement VoLTE on a network.

Is there any difference between the challenges of VoLTE roaming within the US, and roaming internationally?

There are several key differences in domestic roaming and international roaming. The biggest challenges come from the way the VoLTE call would be handled by a local breakout or would it have to go all the way back to the home network. Breaking it out as local as possible would be ideal, however, now we have to change the way the billing is currently handled. The GSMA-NA groups related to this, such as IREG and BARG, are trying to resolve the best practices, but until the industry agrees on a practice, a lot of smaller companies are simply going to have to rely on their major partners or third-party vendors on the proper solutions given their specific relationships.

Bernadette Noujaim-Baldwin, Global Head of Carrier Services, Telstra Global, Singapore is speaking on Day Two of the LTE Asia conference, taking place on the 18th September 2013 at the Suntec, Singapore.

What have been the biggest milestones for Telstra Global’s IPX network over the past year?

The rapid expansion of our customer base, and the clarification of our IPX roadmap and journey for the future. By talking with existing and potential customers, Telstra Global has developed a clear understanding of the concerns of our LTE customers, and also their vision of where LTE will take them in their home market, allowing us to support those advancements to their remote partners. We have had many exciting and innovative conversations with service and content providers, enabling us to have a strong roadmap for the future. The adoption of LTE and in turn IPX means having a view of the future and not just today.

Going on holiday this summer? In this post, Michel van Veen, IPX business manager for SAP Mobile Services takes a look at the how Local Breakout and IPX will enable operators to meet the strategic challenges presented when customers roam.

As LTE rollouts gain pace, consumers will have access to new networks and higher data speed. While it will take time for the end-user market to catch-up with the industry’s perceptions, the industry still needs to address certain expectations around LTE.

At first glance the roaming advantages dominate the LTE experience. Local Breakout, a mechanism where roaming traffic does not traverse back to the home network and is handled by the local operator, allows for cheaper tariffs and will also bring increased localised revenue. The challenge for the network operators is to understand how and where the placement of Local Breakout can be advantageous for them.